Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveChris Albert — Redirect
81 linesREDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: Now, Mr. Albert, you were asked some questions about being selectman. Were you a selectman at the time on January 28th, 2022?
MR. ALBERT: No.
MR. LALLY: And about how long after that was it that you became --
MR. ALBERT: It was sometime in April that the election was over, April -- the second week in April, maybe.
MR. LALLY: So that photograph that you were shown with respect to yourself and the former Chief Berkowitz of the Canton Police, when was that?
MR. ALBERT: It was a fundraiser, so it was probably like two or three weeks before the election. So March something. End of March, maybe.
MR. LALLY: So well after January 28, 2022?
MR. ALBERT: Yes.
MR. LALLY: And you were asked some questions about your brother selling the house. Now, prior to your brother selling the house you had sold your house; correct?
MR. ALBERT: Correct.
MR. LALLY: And why was that?
MR. ALBERT: Why was that?
MR. LALLY: Yes.
MR. ALBERT: It just made more -- it made sense for us. You know, it was just a financial decision.
MR. LALLY: The kids were getting older; is that correct?
MR. ALBERT: Yeah.
MR. LALLY: And one was in the Navy?
MR. ALBERT: Yup.
MR. LALLY: Another was about to go to college?
MR. ALBERT: Correct.
MR. LALLY: And what, if any, relation did that have to your brother selling the house?
MR. ALBERT: So once he found out that I was selling my --
MR. YANNETTI: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: I’m going to allow it. A Once he found out I was selling my house, he decided that it might be a good idea for him to sell his house, his kids were getting older. So I gave him my real estate’s number, the guy who sold my house.
MR. LALLY: And that selling of the house, was that something that you had discussed with your brother prior to January 28th of 2022?
MR. ALBERT: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Let’s move on.
BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: Now, with regard -- with regard to your son Colin, when he came home that night, you indicated that it was about 10 minutes after. Now, is that 10 minutes after you arrived home or 10 minutes after you got in bed?
MR. ALBERT: Ten minutes after I jumped into bed.
MR. LALLY: Now, with reference to your son Colin, he came home and you saw him that night; correct?
MR. ALBERT: When he came home?
MR. LALLY: Yes.
MR. ALBERT: Yeah. He just leaned his head in the door.
MR. LALLY: And, when he leaned his head in the door, did you, Similar to what I had asked you about Mr. O’Keefe, did you observe any sort of injuries or anything like that to his face?
MR. ALBERT: No.
MR. LALLY: You saw your son the next day as well?
MR. ALBERT: Yes.
MR. LALLY: Did you observe any injuries to him at any point in time?
MR. ALBERT: No.
MR. LALLY: And you mentioned that you went over to your brother Brian Albert’s house and both he and Mr. Higgins were there; correct?
MR. ALBERT: Correct.
MR. LALLY: As far as your interactions with both Brian Albert and Brian Higgins that following day, what, if any, injuries did you observe on them that day?
MR. ALBERT: None.
MR. LALLY: Now, with regard to the Nebbercracker, what was sort of the origination of that?
MR. ALBERT: It's a joke. So my son [REDACTED], who is my littlest one, he was cutting across John’s lawn one day, coming home from school, walking. This is before John had a fence that went this way, like on Pleasant Street. So it would just cut off like a couple of minutes. He ran across John’s lawn one day. This is my littlest son who, I don’t even know at the time, he might have been like nine or ten. I’m not sure exactly how old he was. And John yelled something to him, hey, kid, get off my lawn. So John was just making a joke. So [REDACTED] got scared. He ran home and told my wife, Julie, and then Julie in turn called, I think, called Jen maybe and said, hey, John just yelled at [REDACTED]. And I think Jen reached out to John and John felt terrible. John came down the street. John asked what kind of candy [REDACTED] liked and John brought [REDACTED] a bag of candy and just said, hey, I was just kidding. So from that point on we called him Mr. Nebbercracker. And it was a joke between John. John thought it was funny.
MR. LALLY: Now, as far as those photographs that you indicated that you took on his fence and sent to him when he was away -- is that correct?
MR. ALBERT: Correct.
MR. LALLY: And that was after he had asked you to watch his house while he was away?
MR. ALBERT: Yeah.
MR. LALLY: And how did he respond to those photographs?
MR. ALBERT: He thought it was hilarious. We actually showed him and other people that photo, too. They thought it was funny.
JUDGE CANNONE: Are you going to wrap it up, Mr. Lally?
MR. LALLY: Just one last question, Your Honor.
BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: So after you sent the text message as far to come over here and then made the reference to his lawn, Mr. O’ Keefe then came over to the Waterfall; correct?
MR. ALBERT: Yeah, he came over after.
MR. LALLY: Nothing further.
JUDGE CANNONE: Mr. Yannetti?
MR. YANNETTI: Nothing further, Your Honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right. You are all set, Mr. Albert. Jurors, we’re going to take our recess. Mr. Albert, just stand there and let the jurors go first. It’s not going to be too long. We’re going to end around 12:30 today.
(Whereupon, the jury was escorted out of the courtroom. )
(Whereupon, the defendant was escorted out of the courtroom and a recess was taken at 11:06 a.m.)
(Court resumes at 11:30 a.m.)
(Defendant present. Jury present.)
JUDGE CANNONE: Mr. Lally, your next witness, please?
MR. YANNETTI: May we approach before the next witness is called, Your Honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
(Whereupon, there was a sidebar conference as follows:)
JUDGE CANNONE: So before you start, the court officer said that you wanted to see me about something that happened, and I thought we could wait until 12:30 so we have time to discuss it.
MR. YANNETTI: That's fine. I just wanted to make sure that we did it today. That's all.
JUDGE CANNONE: So let's move with the testimony.
MR. YANNETTI: That's fine.
JUDGE CANNONE: And we'll address it at sidebar.
MR. YANNETTI: I appreciate that.
(Whereupon, the sidebar conference concluded.)
JUDGE CANNONE: All right. Mr. Lally, who is your next witness?
MR. LALLY: Your Honor, the Commonwealth would call Ms. Julie Albert to the stand.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.